Research Article

A Case Study on Semantic Transfer in Foreign Language Vocabulary Acquisition: Turkish First-Year ELT Students

Volume: 14 Number: 3 July 31, 2025
TR EN

A Case Study on Semantic Transfer in Foreign Language Vocabulary Acquisition: Turkish First-Year ELT Students

Abstract

This study aimed to explore if learners of a second language (L2) transfer second language (L2) lexical components onto the present semantic content of their first language (L1) interpretations, as well as the role of context in this transfer. Forty-five native Turkish-speaking first-year students from an English Language Teaching (ELT) Department with a B2 level of English at a Turkish foundation university participated in this study. Data were collected through the Semantic Transfer Test. The study's findings showed that Turkish EFL adult learners tend to transfer semantic information from their L1s to L2s when learning L2 vocabulary. This was evident in the participants' responses to the vocabulary test, where they tended to choose L2 words that shared semantic relations with their L1 counterparts. On the other hand, the transfer is weaker when context support is given. These results have important pedagogical implications for teaching L2 vocabulary to Turkish EFL adults. Teachers should focus on providing contextual information to help reduce the degree of semantic transfer from the learners' L1s to their L2s. Overall, the study contributes to the understanding of the function of context in L2 vocabulary acquisition and the impact of L1 on L2 vocabulary learning.

Keywords

References

  1. Alkhathlan, L. S. (2007). The Effects of the Native Semantic Structures on the Representation and Processing of L2 Vocabulary for Arabic Speakers of English. (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation). University of Oxford, Oxford.
  2. Bock, J. K. (1990). Creating form in talk. American Psychologist, 45(11), 1221-1236.
  3. Bryman, A. (2001). Social research methods. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.
  4. Cantone, K. F. (2007). Code-switching in bilingual children. Dordrecht: Springer.
  5. Coady, J. (1997). L2 vocabulary acquisition. Second language vocabulary acquisition, 273-290.
  6. Ellis, N. C. (1997). Vocabulary acquisition: word structure, collocation, word class and meaning. In N. Schmitt and M. McCarthy (Eds.), Vocabulary; description, acquisition and pedagogy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  7. González Alonso J, Puig-Mayenco E, Fábregas A, Chaouch-Orozco A, Rothman J. (2021) On the status of transfer in adult third language acquisition of early bilinguals. PLoS ONE 16(3): e0247976. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247976
  8. Ijaz, I. H. (1986). Linguistic and cognitive determinants of lexical acquisition in a second language. Language Learning, 36, 401–451. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1986.tb01034.x

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Applied Linguistics and Educational Linguistics

Journal Section

Research Article

Early Pub Date

July 31, 2025

Publication Date

July 31, 2025

Submission Date

April 10, 2025

Acceptance Date

May 26, 2025

Published in Issue

Year 2025 Volume: 14 Number: 3

APA
(şendoğan) Erdoğan, K. (2025). A Case Study on Semantic Transfer in Foreign Language Vocabulary Acquisition: Turkish First-Year ELT Students. Bartın University Journal of Faculty of Education, 14(3), 883-894. https://izlik.org/JA53ZZ64MA
AMA
1.(şendoğan) Erdoğan K. A Case Study on Semantic Transfer in Foreign Language Vocabulary Acquisition: Turkish First-Year ELT Students. BUEFAD. 2025;14(3):883-894. https://izlik.org/JA53ZZ64MA
Chicago
(şendoğan) Erdoğan, Kübra. 2025. “A Case Study on Semantic Transfer in Foreign Language Vocabulary Acquisition: Turkish First-Year ELT Students”. Bartın University Journal of Faculty of Education 14 (3): 883-94. https://izlik.org/JA53ZZ64MA.
EndNote
(şendoğan) Erdoğan K (July 1, 2025) A Case Study on Semantic Transfer in Foreign Language Vocabulary Acquisition: Turkish First-Year ELT Students. Bartın University Journal of Faculty of Education 14 3 883–894.
IEEE
[1]K. (şendoğan) Erdoğan, “A Case Study on Semantic Transfer in Foreign Language Vocabulary Acquisition: Turkish First-Year ELT Students”, BUEFAD, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 883–894, July 2025, [Online]. Available: https://izlik.org/JA53ZZ64MA
ISNAD
(şendoğan) Erdoğan, Kübra. “A Case Study on Semantic Transfer in Foreign Language Vocabulary Acquisition: Turkish First-Year ELT Students”. Bartın University Journal of Faculty of Education 14/3 (July 1, 2025): 883-894. https://izlik.org/JA53ZZ64MA.
JAMA
1.(şendoğan) Erdoğan K. A Case Study on Semantic Transfer in Foreign Language Vocabulary Acquisition: Turkish First-Year ELT Students. BUEFAD. 2025;14:883–894.
MLA
(şendoğan) Erdoğan, Kübra. “A Case Study on Semantic Transfer in Foreign Language Vocabulary Acquisition: Turkish First-Year ELT Students”. Bartın University Journal of Faculty of Education, vol. 14, no. 3, July 2025, pp. 883-94, https://izlik.org/JA53ZZ64MA.
Vancouver
1.Kübra (şendoğan) Erdoğan. A Case Study on Semantic Transfer in Foreign Language Vocabulary Acquisition: Turkish First-Year ELT Students. BUEFAD [Internet]. 2025 Jul. 1;14(3):883-94. Available from: https://izlik.org/JA53ZZ64MA

All the articles published in the journal are open access and distributed under the conditions of CommonsAttribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License 

88x31.png


Bartın University Journal of Faculty of Education